Christmas Present
by Lyra Silvertongue2
Summary: Fred and George consider a Christmas present soon to be given to someone special...one-shot for a challenge. Read and review, please!


"It's...lumpy."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You don't know some kind of...anti-lump spell, do you?"  
  
"Nah, mate. I know a spell that will put lumps _in,_ but I don't know one that'll take lumps _out._"  
  
"Have I ever told you that you're useless and pathetic?"  
  
"Many times."  
  
"Add another to your list."  
  
"Okay, then." Fred circled the gift-wrapped package contemplatively. It had been placed on the floor in the center of the shop for an inspection, to be performed by himself and his brother. The inspection was not going well at all. " D'you think we should wrap it again?"  
  
George was standing fixedly, glaring down at the present. " Do we have any other wrapping paper that doesn't give you warts?" he countered.  
  
There was a silence. Then: "Maybe it needs some ribbon."  
  
"_Why_ would it need ribbon, Fred?"  
  
"For...color."  
  
This warranted further examination of the current wrapping paper. "I don't think any more color is needed, Fred."  
  
Suddenly the bell over the door to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes rang, and a panicky-looking wizard with cheeks rosy from the cold burst into the shop. "I need a present for my sister! _Yesterday!_"  
  
Neither Fred nor George moved.   
  
The customer stood there in his winter-wear, panting and dripping melting snow onto the floor of the store.   
  
"What if we unwrapped it very carefully," suggested Fred, as if there had been no interruption, "and then re-wrapped it?"  
  
"What would that accomplish?" asked George, brow creasing as he finally looked up at his twin.  
  
"Hello?" inquired the frazzled man near the entrance.  
  
In unison, the twins turned to the customer and told him tersely, "Go away." They immediately returned their attention to the lumpy gift on the floor of the shop.  
  
For a moment, the man just looked confused, but then he grew annoyed and said, "Jeez, put a sign up if you're not open..." The bell rang again, signaling his exit.  
  
"Forget it," said George, defeated, as the bell rang once again. "It'll never be good enough."  
  
"Good enough for what?" queried a very familiar voice from the front of the shop. The two teens swiveled as if they were five years old once again, and had been caught pulling apart their younger brother's toy broomstick to try and make it throw him off next time he rode it.  
  
"Hi, mum," Fred said, scratching the back of his neck bashfully.  
  
"Long time no see," George finished.   
  
"Yes, it _has_ been a long time, and don't think I'm going to forget that you didn't owl your poor mother at Christmas," said Mrs. Weasley, putting her hands on her hips. She noticed the two of them stepping closer together, forming an island among a sea of prank merchandise, as if they were hiding something. "What do you have that you're not showing me?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
George bit a lip, and bent down to retrieve the package, holding it out in front of him for her to take.   
  
"Oh," she said, taken aback. "For me?"  
  
"Wait!" exclaimed Fred suddenly, whipping out his wand. "I know! _Accio bow!_" A very elaborately wound bit of ribbon flew out from the back of the shop, right into Fred's hand, and he stuck it proudly, if a bit haphazardly, onto the gift in Mrs. Weasley's hand. "There. Now you can open it."  
  
"It's not going to explode, is it?" she said accusingly, and was answered in the negative. It only took a moment to dispose of the brightly-colored paper, which soon fell to the floor beside her. "Ohh," she cooed, "Boys, you shouldn't have!"  
  
"We knitted it ourselves," said George, wringing his hands. Fred scuffed a foot on the floor.  
  
In a flash, Mrs. Weasley had disposed of her coat and donned the sweater. Hideously turquoise, and bearing a proud "W" on the chest, it shone like a beacon in the dim store. "Oh, and to think I came here to scold you!" cried Mrs. Weasley, seizing the brothers and hugging them within an inch of their lives. "Thank you! Happy Christmas to both of you!"  
  
"You're welcome, mum," Fred forced out.  
  
"Happy Christmas," said George, a bit muffled. The two brothers caught eyes behind her back, pressed into her shoulders as they were. "It's still lumpy, though."


End file.
